Motivational Theories

Learning about the different motivational theories has been really interesting this past week, especially when applying them to myself as both a student and a future teacher.

The first motivational theory that I find helpful is the Expectancy versus Value Theory. This theory is helpful to me because it explains why I expect a lot out of myself when it comes to school. This is due to the fact that I have always been successful at school throughout my academic career and because of this, I have built a high self efficacy. Therefore, it is easy for my expectancy of my performance to be higher than my peers. This is both good and bad for me. It is good because I expect that I will always perform on a high level in school. This expectancy pushes me to work hard and perform to the best of my ability. This expectancy is also bad because it makes me more vulnerable to feeling like a failure when I do not perform to the high ability that I expect myself to.  In addition, I have also realized that value plays a role in my motivation. Value can be high or low due to importance, utility, interest, and cost. For example, my freshman year of college I struggled through the class Anthropology, even though I absolutely hated it, because it was a means to my desired goal of graduating and therefore it had the value of utility. This theory, as a whole, will affect my students because they are more likely to engage in a particular subject area or behavior if they have an expectancy of success while also finding value in the subject area or behavior. Value affects the choices my students will make which contributes to their effort and achievement due to their expectancy of success. As a teacher, it is my job to show my students that what they are learning in school has a high value while also building their expectancy of success at that particular subject.

The other motivational goal I found both instructive and helpful was the Goal Theory, especially in the area of learning goals and performance goals. As a whole, goals drive our motivation whether they are short-term or long-term. Goals give you something to work towards and accomplish and can possibly raise your sense of expectancy and value towards a specific behavior. Last week in class, we looked at learning goals and performance goals. Learning goals, known as mastery goals, are the desire to acquire additional knowledge or master a new skill. Performance goals are the desire to demonstrate high ability and make a good impression. Prior to last week's class, I was not aware of the distinction between different types of goals, goals were goals in my eyes. However, this theory is instructive and helpful in making a clear distinction between the two and the ways they affect one's motivation. This theory will affect my students' motivation in several ways. For instance, if my students set learning goals for themselves, they will have the motivation to engage in activities that will help them learn. This includes paying attention in class, learning from their mistakes, and realizing that learning involves trying hard and continuing to persevere even in the face of failure. In addition, my students will benefit from performance goals if they are combined with mastery goals. Performance goals by themselves can be less beneficial to my students' motivation. For example, as learners, students will exert only the minimum amount of effort to complete a task, may be tempted to cheat in order to get good grades, and prefer short, easy tasks. As a teacher, it is my role to pick-up on characteristics of this type of goal and use it to my benefit in order to motivate my students. For example, I can post the highest or best work on the bulletin board. This will increase my performance goal students to work hard to get their work on the board in order to look competent in the eyes of their peers. I can also remind my students of the importance of good grades for success. On the other hand for my learning goal oriented students, I can insist that they actually understand a subject matter rather than just simply memorize the material. I can also have my students make short-term concrete goals to increase their motivation to learn.

There are several other motivational goals but, these two types of goals are the ones that stuck out most to me and were the ones I was most able to relate to as both a student and a future educator. While researching about motivation in elementary children, I came across the website "KidsHealth" (click to view website). This article on "Motivating Kids to be Active", made an interesting connection between being physically active and motivation. It discusses the importance of kids being physically active and how this directly affects them being academically motivated, alert, and successful. In addition, physical activity can also build self-esteem, which plays a part in motivation to learn. I found this particularly interesting because as a teacher, I can create lessons that involve forms of physical activity in the classroom because when kids enjoy an activity, they are more likely to want to engage in it and do more activities like it. I think this article made a vital connection between living an active lifestyle and the benefits its brings not just physically, but cognitively and its application to motivation.